Completed Shirt Dress for 2-in-1 Sewalong. Simplicity 1880

It was so cool to join along in this sewalong, hosted by the fabulous Sunni over at A Fashionable Stitch. Even more fun for me since I already owned the pattern and did the wrap version as my Dress #7 back in April, and wore it during Me-Made-May’12. That little frock involved some of my more harrowing fitting issues, so it was extra extra cool that I could use that experience to give me a little perspective when cutting the shirt version.

First off, the fabric is this lovely soft rayon that I got in a lot from eBay, which included yards of seersuckers, ginghams, etc. A real fabric score. The pattern I bought goes up to 12, but since I’m a whole few months older and wiser, I knew to alter the pieces to more like a 14. I just cut everything a smidge bigger, and had lots of room. Fab.

Construction was a snap. I really can’t complain. The collar wasn’t nearly as intimidating as I had feared. The inside of the neck could be prettier, but since no one can see that while I’m wearing it I’m not going to sweat it. The collar and little baby lapels really look crisp and sharp. The rayon LOVES that interfacing. Zipper was a breeze. I used an invisible zipper, but since the zipper was such a similar color to the main fabric I didn’t use an invisible zipper foot since I had a little bit of leeway with visibility. The buttons, as mentioned in a previous post, were initially what got me motivated to finally get the actual sewing started, and the button placement was helped infinitely and immensely by Sunni’s tutorial. I didn’t use a simflex, although it does look rather cool. Just found the crucial/critical buttonhole placement and did the math from there. I didn’t do sleeves, just tucked under and topstitched. Partially due to lazyness and partially because I liked the look.

Here are some pics

I couldn’t resist wearing this too-small hat that my adorable boyfriend found for me on a recent trip to California. I thought if I cocked it jauntily enough, it might look like I’m dressed that way on purpose. Unfortunately this pic was taken late by a tired boyfriend and the hat wasn’t jaunty at all. I like the living room shot, though, with the ever-growing fabric stash in my Ikea shelving unit. Plus, those BCBG shoes had just arrived in the mail and I adore them with this dress.

The following two were timer-taken this morning, in time for the Flickr reveal. One with belt and one without. Still in the air about the belt thing. As I mentioned on Flickr I was thinking red belt, but thought the shoes, buttons, lips, and purse (unpictured, but the perfect shade of red) would be enough. The dress seems to look okay without a belt, which is pretty cool. I like that versatility.

I still wasn’t in love with the photographs of this dress, so I made my man take some more this afternoon. I know, I’m awful. But I wanted some with New Birthday Hat, so it had to be done!

Final photo, with my mushy love, who gets sorely neglected these days.

Hope everyone has/had fun with all this sewing-along. Tomorrow it’s supposed to only get into the 70s here in New Jersey, so I may dig out my wrap version for a Wearalong. See you on Flickr!!

Thanks, Kirsty! I like it a lot better without the belt too! I’ve been wearing the heck out of those red shoes this year. They’re legal for work (have to be closed-heel and closed-toed) but still feel cute.

Thanks a million!! This was one project where it seemed to take forever to get a shot I liked. And I took too many with that belt, which just wasn’t flattering. You’re so right–it is really helpful to try as many styling options as possible. It’s all part of the fun of ‘making it work’. 🙂

Thanks so much!!! You’re too kind. I’m definitely embracing the red these days. Just bought 5 yards of this tomato-y broadcloth for a retro Butterick, so I’m really pushing the boundaries of out-redding myself. 🙂 Should be fun.

Thank YOU for the inspiration as well. I have the same New Look pattern as your beautiful new green skirt, and your post is getting me motivated to finally make something with it. It’s great how we can all keep one another’s creative juices flowing. Thanks as always for the feedback!!

I LOVE your shirt dress! So cute! Great call on sleeveless and your hats are magnifique! I too am such an admirer of red shoes and have to mention that I wear them with everything! Gorgeous dress sister! Thanks so much for participating!